Seed planting package



gi a@ Ac. n. cLAwsoN 2,785,969

SEED PLANTING PACKAGE:

March 19, 1957 Filed NOV. 15, 1955 l" INVENToR.

' CLINTON D. CLAW-50N ATTO 2^/ E YJ United States. Patent Ai .2,785,969 p SEED PLANTING PACKAGE Clinton D. Cnwsonshakn neightsohio, assigner., to. Figo Corporatoll, ClevelanmjQhio, a. corporation. of.' 0 o Application November-13, 1953,-SerialNos 319-15869,4`

This invention is a continuation-inspart'- ofs'my1 -tappli. cation Serial Number 313,542, Vfiled. Gctobere 7'; '1952, yand now abandoned.

This invention relates to seed1 plantinggand-hasimore particular reference` to a` producty for` seed. germination and promoting good plant growth.

Seeds which are scattered more4 oriless haphazardlyas. by sowing, are subject toirregular andaunevendistribution. In addition, seeds will be lost due to the` washingv eiect` of rain or. blown awayby winds.. In manyninstances the emergence Vof` seedlings arebyltsoil'sf which` tend `to crust over.andf by soils.- .which aretdecient i`nnutrients.

It is, therefore' a, principal objectl oft-this vinvention to provide. aY seed'planting package.z which-.twill prevent seeds from washing or blowing away and.which1packag e willpromote quick and efficient seed germination. and subsequent vigorous. plant growth..

3 may be placed therein.

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to benoted that .the ,seed .plantingpackage may. besquaret, round, .oblong or. any desired.. geometric. design.4 andtliez Seedszmay be arrangedinany patternto.suitthafancyfof th@ user.

Referring moresnecitically, to. the. drawingsthepresentt invention consists ofn severalportions,towitr. carrier.: is afwater rota. ing, medium suchas, .tiredl shale ..(I:Iay.-.V dite), exfoliate. mica. (yermicnlite), pumice. and. Pulnhips- 1.1.1.. .the preferredembodiment.oimy Yinven-e tion I use the exfoliatedmica. The carrier llisgformed into a bar and'held together by a binder. Such.materialsY as gelatin, ymethylatedcellulose,agar, peat moss and paper maybe u sed as the binder. Plant foods Z'are.intimatelyc mixed in the desired'quantity with the carrier and binder, The ingredientsare mixed inla water slurryland'formedj. by extruding or molding. The thus formed packagghas indentations or grooves 4 along one surface so that-seeds- V Seeds 3 are heldin placejn. indentations" 4` b y being covered over with some of`-the same composition of'which the package is made.

Phat/'er found-that a seed planting package with a pH of 'p6-7' is necessary toobtain optimum germination and, subsequentvigorous plant growth'. In other words, what is'meant-is tha-t if,'the package is slurriediin water (about 2partswater to one part of seed p lantingpackage) at ro'o'm temperature for aboutanhour, the water from the slurry-has a pHin the lrangeof; 6-71 One of the unique 'v features -of the present invention is-the incorporation of Other objects will become apparentastheainventiont proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoingandrelated ends, the, invention, then, comprises the,features-herein. after fully described and particularly pointedtoutin the claims,fthe following description and accompanying drawings setting forth in detail* certain 4illustrativet embodiments of the invention, these..being.indicative, however, of .but afew of the various .waysnin-.which the.4 principle of the invention may be employed.

-Broadly stated the .present inventioncomprisessa preformed-solid mass `in which seedsmaybeenbeddedtfor` germination and subsequent plantfgrowthrcomprising:-

(41) A minor amount byvolume of a slowlyiwater soluble fused synthetic vitreous matrixcontainingiinfcombined form all ofthe elements,l in, addition to nitrogen, andincluding the minor` elements necessary .toand'in Suchform as to support vigorous plant growth;

(b) A minor amount by volume.. offa slowlysoluble material which' will supply thenitrogen necessary for vigorous plant growth; l Y

(c) A major amount by volume ofa ,water retaining: carrier; and Y v p '(d) A water soluble binder for the rnassgu,said ,mass characterized further in that water in which.saidgmass` has been slurriedV at about room temperaturev for4 about one hour has apH in the range of 6 to 7.;

Fig. l is a perspective vieweof afabricated "seedyplanb ing package;

IFig. 2 is a top plan viewfof another embodiment -of the seed planting package; and t (Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view,v ofav limiter..pot'con.-` taining the present. invention.

invention it will be assumed that the seeds are arranged in a rectangular. barinsparallellongitudinal rows. It is a very slowly soluble fertilizing material. Sincey this material has a pH of about 9.5"to 10.5 I use a material such as -peatlmoss which has a pHof 4.5"to 5:5 as part of the binder andthus obtain a finished product which when slurried in water has a pH inY the range of 6-7.

The above mcntonedfertilizer material comprises a synthetic vitreous material 4consisting of a glassymatrix having in combined form theelementsfessential togpropmerplant growth. The following formulae are illustrative of the glassy fertilizer material usedinthe present invention:

t Percent FezOs 10.0 MnOz 4.0 CuO V4.0 ZnO 4.0 B201 210 M003 CL2Y SiOz 58.0V CaO 2.0 Mg0 1.5v K2O 8.0 Nason. .5.o CoO, e 0.0.

. Percent F6202 3,5: MDO? `0.1 CUO.. .0x94 t MS04 1.6 K z0 ..-c 201;. 1'0A NazO. O O C00 0.003

Y It is important that the .seed planting package whether in bar form or some other shape have reasonable strength to survive handling. It is also desirable to have a package which will soften when wetted so that the roots will have freedom of growth. Paper pulp is an excellent binder, however, paper pulp alone produces a dense package which is undesirable for root formation. In the preferred embodiment of my invention I use a mix` ture of about 40% paper pulp and 50% peat moss as the binder for the water retaining carrier. However, the amounts of paper pulp and peat moss can be varied to suit the user.

'IA i Y' Y i* A n. 3

ingredients/comprising the above` shown glassy fertilizer may vary in a range as follows:

Percent FezOa 2 to 20 MnOa 0.1 to 10 C110 0.04 t0 8 ZnO p 0.05 to p 8 s 0.15m*A 51 0.001 t" 2 '25 to 75 1 -to 20 1 to 5 1 t0 25 0 t0 25 P203 0 to 25 .``In` Vthe 'manufacture of .the above disclosed .synthetic vitreous fertilizer the raw ingredients are placed in a smelt'erv and heated to a molten mass. The molten mass is' Atheir fritted in water. Forsome reason, as yet unknown, i`t is neeessaryto frit the molten material in waterin order f or the material to effectively supply nutrients to growing plants.

-These fertilizer materials have-a relatively slow solubility f in' water and therefore do .no t leach out and bec'ome unavailable to the plants through chemical reaction with.the soil. The material is non-toxic in high concentrations so that large amounts can be applied at once to furnish an ample supply of nutrients over a long period of time.A Inspite of the extremely low solubility of the fertilizing material used in the present invention the rate of releaseV of the nutrients is such that germination and subsequent plant growth is far superior to seeds planted without the fertilizing material.

FromV the foregoing compositionsit will be seen that all the majorelements necessary lto plant growth are present exeeptnitrogen. Since the fertilizer material ismanufactured at high temperature-s it is impossible to include nitrogeningthe synthetic vitreous matrix. However, after the molten vitreous mass isk fritted in water and dried I admix aslowlysoluble source of nitrogen, such as urea formaldehy-de with the vitreous fertilizer material and thus obtain a fertilizer material containing all of the elements necessary for plant growth. I use 'the nitrogen source in the amount of about 3% to 50% of the weight of the vitreous fertilizer material used.

An example of the seed planting package of the present invention is as follows:

8 1bs. paper 12.5 lbs. peat moss 10 lbs, fertilizer material (example b above) 5.6 cu. ft. water 91.4 lbs. exfoliated mica 2 lbs. urea formaldehyde (source of nitrogen) Bars were molded from'this composition, dried and seeds placed in indentations along lthe surface of the bars. f A bar from the aforegoing composition was planted in a clay soil. Alongside the' bar the same number of seeds were planted in the soil as a control. Six days after the planting the seeds in the bar began to sprout and show through the broken crust of the soil, none of the control seels showed germination. Ten days after planting all six seeds in the bar were vigorous and upright while those of the control showed 1 good germination,- 2 very retarded, 1 snapped in half trying to push its way out-of the soil and 2 seeds failed to germinate atY all.

` While the range of ingredients comprising the seed planting-package of the present may vary widely, I have found theprcferred range of composition to be as follows:

I `4 Y Percent Water retaining carrier 50-90 Binder 10-60 Snytheticf vitreous fertilizer 1-15.

In operation, a slit trench or furrow is formed in the ground to a desired depth, the seed planting package is deposited therein, covered over with the soil'and thekarea thoroughly watered. The water seeping through the covering layer of'soil isAquicklyabsorbed by the carrier' and binder. The binder disintegrates rapidly and leaves the seeds surrounded by the fertilizer material and the carriet which acts as a mulch and prevents the seeds from being baked and dried out. Under these conditions the seeds germinatevery rapidly and .'the presence of the fertilizer material in the immediate vicinity of the germinated seeds offers the new plant a greater opportunity to develop, especially. in the early stagesof its growth.

Itis within the contemplation of the present invention to use the seed planting package .as a soilers soil for growing plants' in tlo'wer pots. Referring .to Fig. 3 the seed-planting package is molded in the shape of a ower pot and placed into a pot.. When the ower pot is watered the carrier retains the moisture and the fertilizer intimately .dispersed thereinsupplies the necessary food both as to major and minor elements necessary for proper plant growth.

No special kinds of seeds lare required for use in the present inventiomA vThey 'may be'any common type which are ordinarily used to grow vegetables, owers, or trees. Ifdesired or deemed necessary any of the well known insecticides may be incorporated in the seed package of the presentV invention.

From the foregoing it will readily be seen that the seed planting package of the present invention is a superior means of germinating seeds and supporting growth. Other modes of 'applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or'the equivalent of such be employed.

Iftherefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

v V1. As anewproduct, aV preformed solid mass in which seeds may beembedded for germination and subsequent plant growth comprising a substantially uniform admititure of: (a) from about 1% to 15% by volume of a slowly water soluble fused synthetic vitreous matrix containing in combined form all of the necessary fertilizer elements, other than nitrogen,` and including the minor elements necessary to and in such form as to support vigorousplant growth; (b) fromabout 3% to r50% of the weightfof component (a) of a slowly soluble material which will supply the nitrogen necessary for vigorous plant growth;'(c) from about 50% to 90% of a water retaining carrier; and (d) from about-10% to 60% of av water soluble binder for the mass; s aid mass characterized frtherfin that water in which vsaid mass has been y prises a mixture of paper pulp and peat moss.

f ffReferences on following page) References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Carpenter May 31, 1910 White Apr. 5, 1938 5 Jones May 17, 1938 Northen Sept. 6, 1938 Avery Jan. 10, 1939 Slayter Mar. 12, 1940 Vana Jan. 24, 1956 10 6 FOREIGN PATENTS Canada Apr. 4, 1944 Great Britain Aug. 9, 1950 Y Great Britain Sept. 26, 1951 OTHER REFERENCES Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, v01. 43, No. 3, page 17A (March 1951), article Frit for Flowers." 

1. AS A NEW PRODUCT, A PREFORMED SOLID MASS IN WHICH SEEDS MAY BE EMBEDDED FOR GERMINATION AND SUBSEQUENT PLANT GROWTH COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM ADMIXTURE OF: (A) FROM ABOUT 1% TO 15% BY VOLUME OF A SLOWLY WATER SOLUBLE FUSED SYNTHETIC VITREOUS-MATRIX CONTAINING IN COMBINED FORM ALL OF THE NECESSARY FERTILIZER ELEMENTS, OTHER THAN NITROGEN, AND INCLUDING THE MINOR ELEMENTS NECESSARY TO AND IN SUCH FORM AS TO SUPPORT VIGOROUS PLANT GROWTH; (B) FROM ABOUT 3% TO 50% OF THE WEIGHT OF COMPONENT (A) OF A SLOWLY SOLUBLE MATERIAL WHICH WILL SUPPLY THE NITROGEN NECESSARY FOR VIGOROUS PLANT GROWTH; (C) FROM ABOUT 50% TO 90% OF A WATER RETAINING CARRIER; AND (B) FROM ABOUT 10% TO 60% OF A WATER SOLUBLE BINDER FOR THE MASS; SAID MASS CHARACTER IZED FURTHER IN THAT WATER IN WHICH SAID MASS HAS BEEN SLURRIED AT ABOUT ROOM TEMPERATURE FOR ABOUT ONE HOUR HAS A PH IN THE RANGE OF 6 TO
 7. 